Get the Most Out of Facebook, 7 Ways

With over 800 million users, Facebook is definitely a place to market your products and/or services to customers and prospectives. But how can you do this? How can you leverage on your ‘Friends’ and drive engagement to your business? Here are some strategic moves you could take to achieve a better results.

1. Be interactive

When you respond promptly (within four hours at least), visitors to your profile feel listened to and will encourage them to interact with you more. This is very good for customer service inquiries. Surely you might have a few rants from some customers, but it is still good as this will provide feedback on your offering. Responding is definitely good for your business and brand in the long term. You may have an official company email where you deal with inquiries, but do not limit your response to only that email account. Respond to the Facebook comments and emails as well.

2. Stories stick better

People remember stories better than facts and figures. This is perhaps because of how the stories made them feel and people usually don’t forget how they felt some time back. You could share stories of how one of your clients uses your service to achieve a specific goal, or how they use your service in a creative way to solve problems. Encourage users to post how they use your products as well. Mind you, you are not limited to only words, as you can use interesting photos to tell these stories.

3. Exchange ideas

Ask questions and encourage creativity. Don’t be afraid to tackle real issues that are important to your fans and your brand. For example, after the President’s State of the Union address, you can post “How well has President Obama done supporting “every entrepreneur that wants to become the next Steve Jobs”? This will elicit of alot of responses from both sides of the aisle.

4. Celebrate important dates!

Pause to commemorate milestones or seasonal traditions. For example, on their Facebook page, American Express OPEN recently celebrated Martin Luther King’s birthday by asking, “...it’s a great chance to reflect on our own dreams. What is your greatest dream as a business owner?”

Expand your brand and don’t be afraid to be bold or irreverent. This is important because some posts on your Facebook page need to be a break from talking about your product and company.

7.Make connections

Share your content with other complementary sources. As a result, they will more likely share their content with you. This can be done effectively by championing a cause that is in alignment with the values of your brand. For example, (RED) has raised over $180 million and helped 7 million people fight AIDS. These types of connections make your company relevant to everyday life.